Expanded canonical forms of layout patterns

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the disclosed technology relate to techniques for determining expanded canonical forms of layout patterns. Coordinates of vertices of geometric elements in a window of a layout design are first transformed into new coordinates of the vertices, wherein the coordinates of vertices do not comprise clipped coordinates and the transforming comprises: performing a translation on the coordinates of vertices based on differences between maximum and minimum X/Y coordinate values of the vertices. Based on sums of X/Y coordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices, a canonical form of the geometric elements is determined. The canonical form coordinates of the vertices for a plurality of windows may then be determined. The plurality of windows comprise the window, are centered in the same location as the window, and have different sizes.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/537,504, filed on Nov. 10, 2014, whichapplication is incorporated entirely herein by reference

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosed technology relates to the field of lithography.Various implementations of the disclosed technology may be particularlyuseful for pattern matching.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY

Designing and fabricating IC devices typically involves many steps,sometimes referred to as the “design flow.” The particular steps of adesign flow often are dependent upon the type of the circuit, itscomplexity, the design team, and the circuit fabricator or foundry thatwill manufacture the circuit. Typically, software and hardware “tools”verify the design at various stages of the design flow by runningsoftware simulators and/or hardware emulators. These steps aid in thediscovery of errors in the design, and allow the designers and engineersto correct or otherwise improve the design.

Several steps are common to most design flows. Initially, thespecification for a new circuit is transformed into a logical design,such as a register transfer level (RTL) description of the circuit. Thelogic of the circuit is then analyzed, to confirm that it willaccurately perform the functions desired for the circuit. This analysisis sometimes referred to as “functional verification.” After theaccuracy of the logical design is confirmed, it is converted into adevice design by synthesis software. The device design, which istypically in the form of a schematic or netlist, describes the specificelectronic devices (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) thatwill be used in the circuit, along with their interconnections. Therelationships between the electronic devices are then analyzed, toconfirm that the circuit described by the device design will correctlyperform the desired functions. This analysis is sometimes referred to as“formal verification.” Additionally, preliminary timing estimates forportions of the circuit are often made at this stage, using an assumedcharacteristic speed for each device, and incorporated into theverification process.

Once the components and their interconnections are established, thedesign is again transformed, this time into a physical design thatdescribes specific geometric elements. This type of design often isreferred to as a “layout” design. The geometric elements, whichtypically are polygons, define the shapes that will be created invarious layers of material to manufacture the circuit. Typically, adesigner will select groups of geometric elements representing ICcomponents (e.g., contacts, channels, gates, etc.) and place them in adesign area. These groups of geometric elements may be custom designed,selected from a library of previously-created designs, or somecombination of both. Lines, also represented by geometric elements, arethen routed between the geometric elements for IC components, formingthe wiring used to interconnect the electronic devices. Circuit layoutdescriptions can be provided in many different formats. Once the designis finalized, the layout portion of the design can be used byfabrication tools to manufacture the circuit using a photolithographicprocess.

As designers and manufacturers continue to increase the number ofcircuit components in a given area and/or shrink the size of circuitcomponents, the shapes reproduced on the substrate (and thus the shapesin the mask) become smaller and are placed closer together. Thisreduction in feature size increases the difficulty of faithfullyreproducing the image intended by the design layout onto the substrate.Certain geometric shapes cannot be successfully manufactured in aparticular manufacturing process. Historically, a chip manufacturerwould have a failure analysis (FA) team identify these configurations,generate a geometric representation of the problematic features in thoseconfigurations, and then derive an engineering specification forexcluding those problematic features from new designs. This type ofengineering specification typically would be interpreted and formulatedas a design rule. The derived design rule would then be added to therule decks for use during a physical verification process.

Such a design rule checking (DRC) process works well when most problemfeatures could be defined with simple one-dimensional checks (length,width, distance, etc.). More complex shapes, however, cannot beaccurately described with existing scripting languages, inevitablyresulting in checking errors. Moreover, significant time and expertisemust be spent in the attempt to reach congruence between the originalintent of the design rule and its implementation in a DRC process.Furthermore, as advanced nodes are being implemented, problematicconfigurations or patterns are now being identified by designers usinglithography and optical process simulations well before siliconproduction and the creation of design rules. These designers also needthe ability to capture and transfer problematic configurations to otherdesigners.

To address the above challenges, pattern-aware physical verificationtechniques have been developed. These techniques are based more onoriginal visual representation of a configuration and less on theabstraction and derivation. As a result, the process of defining aproblematic configuration (pattern) in a layout design is dramaticallysimplified. Where pattern libraries have been established, patternmatching can be easily implemented into the layout verification flow fornew designs, augmenting traditional design rule checking (DRC) andenabling designers to find and resolve more design issues earlier in theprocess flow. Patterns can also be used to implement optimum designconfigurations, improving design flow efficiency while ensuringmanufacturability. Desirable or proven patterns can be implemented bydesigners with confidence that they will pass verification. Not only aredesign patterns an easier way to express complex 2-D and 3-Drelationships, but they provide a directly useful way for design andmanufacturing engineers to communicate design for manufacturing issues.

Pattern matching techniques have also been applied in the test anddiagnosis area recently. Chip testing and failure diagnosis plays animportant role in improving the yield of an IC design. Achieving highand stable yields helps ensure that the product is profitable and meetsquality and reliability objectives. When a new manufacturing process isintroduced, or a new product is introduced on a mature manufacturingprocess, yields will tend to be significantly lower than acceptable. Theability to meet profitability and quality objectives, and perhaps moreimportantly, time to market and time to volume objectives depend greatlyon the rate at which these low yields can be ramped up.

Traditionally, logic-based scan test diagnosis, a software-basedtechnique, uses structural test patterns and the design description toidentify defect suspects. Physical failure analysis is then performed tolocate defects and to identify the root-cause of failure. There is,however, a gap between what a traditional logic-based diagnosis tool candeliver and what failure analysis and yield engineers need. This ismainly because typically more than one physical location can explain thedefective logical behavior observed in the failing cycles and eachsuspect location will often have multiple possible root causesassociated with it. Fortunately, many systematic failures are caused byspecific layout patterns. Matching traditional diagnosis results withlayout patterns can thus improve the accuracy and resolution of adiagnosis tool, bridge the gap and speed up the yield ramp process. Thistype of approach is often referred to as pattern-aware (or layout-aware)diagnosis/yield analysis.

In both of the pattern-aware physical verification and pattern-awarefailure diagnosis/yield analysis areas, it is desirable to group layoutpatterns together if they are identical, rotation variants, mirrorvariants, translation variants and/or scale variants. One reason is thatthese variants represent the same layout features that may be difficultto fabricate on a chip and/or prone to be defective on a fabricatedchip. Another reason is that the grouping can reduce the storagerequirement and computation costs for various simulation and analysistools.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY

Aspects of the disclosed technology relate to techniques for determiningcanonical forms of layout patterns. In one aspect, there is a methodcomprising: transforming coordinates of vertices of geometric elementsin a window of a layout design into new coordinates of the vertices,wherein the coordinates of vertices do not comprise clipped coordinatesand the transforming comprises: performing a translation on thecoordinates of vertices based on differences between maximum and minimumX coordinate values of the vertices and between maximum and minimum Ycoordinate values of the vertices (the clipped coordinate values notconsidered); and determining canonical form coordinates of the verticesfor a plurality of windows based on a sum of X coordinate values of thenew coordinates of the vertices and a sum of Y coordinate values of thenew coordinates of the vertices, the plurality of windows comprising thewindow, being centered in the same location as the window, and havingdifferent sizes.

The performing a translation may comprise: determining an origin of anew coordinate system based on differences between maximum and minimum Xcoordinate values of the vertices and between maximum and minimum Ycoordinate values of the vertices.

The method may further comprise: performing pattern matching based onthe canonical form coordinates for a plurality of the windows.

The determining canonical form coordinates may comprise: performing anoperation on the new coordinates of the vertices, the operation beingidentity, 90-degree-rotation, 180-degree-rotation, 270-degree-rotation,mirror-reflection, 90-degree-rotation mirror-reflection,180-degree-rotation mirror-reflection, or 270-degree-rotationmirror-reflection.

In another aspect, there are one or more non-transitoryprocessor-readable media storing processor-executable instructions forcausing one or more processors to perform the above method.

In still another aspect, there is a system, comprising: a transformationunit configured to transform coordinates of vertices of geometricelements in a window of a layout design into new coordinates of thevertices, wherein the coordinates of vertices do not comprise clippedcoordinates and the transforming comprises: performing a translation onthe coordinates of vertices based on differences between maximum andminimum X coordinate values of the vertices and between maximum andminimum Y coordinate values of the vertices (the clipped coordinatevalues not considered); and a canonical form coordinate determinationunit configured to determine canonical form coordinates of the verticesfor a plurality of windows based on a sum of X coordinate values of thenew coordinates of the vertices and a sum of Y coordinate values of thenew coordinates of the vertices, the plurality of windows comprising thewindow, being centered in the same location as the window, and havingdifferent sizes.

The system may further comprises a pattern matching unit configured toperform pattern matching based on the canonical form coordinates for aplurality of the windows.

Certain inventive aspects are set out in the accompanying independentand dependent claims. Features from the dependent claims may be combinedwith features of the independent claims and with features of otherdependent claims as appropriate and not merely as explicitly set out inthe claims.

Certain objects and advantages of various inventive aspects have beendescribed herein above. Of course, it is to be understood that notnecessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordancewith any particular embodiment of the disclosed technology. Thus, forexample, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosedtechnology may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves oroptimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein withoutnecessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught orsuggested herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computing system that may be used toimplement various embodiments of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a multi-core processor unit that may beused to implement various embodiments of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3a illustrates an example of a layout pattern.

FIG. 3b illustrates a 90-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 a.

FIG. 3c illustrates a 180-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 a.

FIG. 3d illustrates a 270-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 a.

FIG. 3e illustrates a mirror variant of the layout pattern in FIG. 3 a.

FIG. 3f illustrates a 90-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 e.

FIG. 3g illustrates a 180-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 e.

FIG. 3h illustrates a 270-degree-clock-wise rotation variant of thelayout pattern in FIG. 3 e.

FIG. 4a illustrates a layout pattern obtained by shifting the layoutpattern in FIG. 3a vertically.

FIG. 4b illustrates a layout pattern obtained by shifting the layoutpattern in FIG. 3a horizontally.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a canonical form tool according tovarious embodiments of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart showing a process for determiningcanonical forms of layout patterns that may be implemented according tovarious examples of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 7a illustrates a pattern and the shift center for the pattern.

FIG. 7b illustrates coordinates of the vertices of the pattern in FIG.7a and SumX and SumY.

FIG. 7c illustrates a pattern obtained by rotating the pattern in FIG.7a 180 degree clock-wise and its shift center.

FIG. 7d illustrates coordinates of the vertices of the pattern in FIG.7c and SumX and SumY.

FIG. 8a illustrates a layout pattern 600 inside a window of originalsize.

FIG. 8b illustrates another layout pattern 602 inside a window oforiginal size.

FIG. 8c illustrates a layout pattern obtained by shrinking the size ofthe window in FIG. 8 a.

FIG. 8d illustrates a layout pattern obtained by shrinking the size ofthe window in FIG. 8 b.

FIG. 8e illustrates a layout pattern obtained by further shrinking thesize of the window in FIG. 8a or FIG. 8 b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY General Considerations

Various aspects of the present disclosed technology relate to techniquesfor determining expanded canonical forms of layout patterns. In thefollowing description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose ofexplanation. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will realize thatthe disclosed technology may be practiced without the use of thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known features have not beendescribed in details to avoid obscuring the present disclosedtechnology.

Some of the techniques described herein can be implemented in softwareinstructions stored on a computer-readable medium, software instructionsexecuted on a computer, or some combination of both. Some of thedisclosed techniques, for example, can be implemented as part of anelectronic design automation (EDA) tool. Such methods can be executed ona single computer or on networked computers.

Although the operations of the disclosed methods are described in aparticular sequential order for convenient presentation, it should beunderstood that this manner of description encompasses rearrangements,unless a particular ordering is required by specific language set forthbelow. For example, operations described sequentially may in some casesbe rearranged or performed concurrently. Moreover, for the sake ofsimplicity, the disclosed flow charts and block diagrams typically donot show the various ways in which particular methods can be used inconjunction with other methods. Additionally, the detailed descriptionsometimes uses terms like “determine”, “transform” and “perform” todescribe the disclosed methods. Such terms are high-level abstractionsof the actual operations that are performed. The actual operations thatcorrespond to these terms will vary depending on the particularimplementation and are readily discernible by one of ordinary skill inthe art.

Also, as used herein, the term “design” is intended to encompass datadescribing an entire integrated circuit device. This term also isintended to encompass a smaller group of data describing one or morecomponents of an entire device, however, such as a portion of anintegrated circuit device. Still further, the term “design” also isintended to encompass data describing more than one microdevice, such asdata to be used to form multiple microdevices on a single wafer.

Illustrative Operating Environment

The execution of various electronic design automation processesaccording to embodiments of the disclosed technology may be implementedusing computer-executable software instructions executed by one or moreprogrammable computing devices. Because these embodiments of thedisclosed technology may be implemented using software instructions, thecomponents and operation of a generic programmable computer system onwhich various embodiments of the disclosed technology may be employedwill first be described. Further, because of the complexity of someelectronic design automation processes and the large size of manycircuit designs, various electronic design automation tools areconfigured to operate on a computing system capable of concurrentlyrunning multiple processing threads. The components and operation of acomputer network having a host or master computer and one or more remoteor servant computers therefore will be described with reference toFIG. 1. This operating environment is only one example of a suitableoperating environment, however, and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the disclosedtechnology.

In FIG. 1, the computer network 101 includes a master computer 103. Inthe illustrated example, the master computer 103 is a multi-processorcomputer that includes a plurality of input and output devices 105 and amemory 107. The input and output devices 105 may include any device forreceiving input data from or providing output data to a user. The inputdevices may include, for example, a keyboard, microphone, scanner orpointing device for receiving input from a user. The output devices maythen include a display monitor, speaker, printer or tactile feedbackdevice. These devices and their connections are well known in the art,and thus will not be discussed at length here.

The memory 107 may similarly be implemented using any combination ofcomputer readable media that can be accessed by the master computer 103.The computer readable media may include, for example, microcircuitmemory devices such as read-write memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),electronically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) orflash memory microcircuit devices, CD-ROM disks, digital video disks(DVD), or other optical storage devices. The computer readable media mayalso include magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disks or othermagnetic storage devices, punched media, holographic storage devices, orany other medium that can be used to store desired information.

As will be discussed in detail below, the master computer 103 runs asoftware application for performing one or more operations according tovarious examples of the disclosed technology. Accordingly, the memory107 stores software instructions 109A that, when executed, willimplement a software application for performing one or more operations.The memory 107 also stores data 109B to be used with the softwareapplication. In the illustrated embodiment, the data 109B containsprocess data that the software application uses to perform theoperations, at least some of which may be parallel.

The master computer 103 also includes a plurality of processor units 111and an interface device 113. The processor units 111 may be any type ofprocessor device that can be programmed to execute the softwareinstructions 109A, but will conventionally be a microprocessor device.For example, one or more of the processor units 111 may be acommercially generic programmable microprocessor, such as Intel®Pentium® or Xeon™ microprocessors, Advanced Micro Devices Athlon™microprocessors or Motorola 68K/Coldfire® microprocessors. Alternatelyor additionally, one or more of the processor units 111 may be acustom-manufactured processor, such as a microprocessor designed tooptimally perform specific types of mathematical operations. Theinterface device 113, the processor units 111, the memory 107 and theinput/output devices 105 are connected together by a bus 115.

With some implementations of the disclosed technology, the mastercomputing device 103 may employ one or more processing units 111 havingmore than one processor core. Accordingly, FIG. 2 illustrates an exampleof a multi-core processor unit 111 that may be employed with variousembodiments of the disclosed technology. As seen in this figure, theprocessor unit 111 includes a plurality of processor cores 201. Eachprocessor core 201 includes a computing engine 203 and a memory cache205. As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, a computing enginecontains logic devices for performing various computing functions, suchas fetching software instructions and then performing the actionsspecified in the fetched instructions. These actions may include, forexample, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and comparing numbers,performing logical operations such as AND, OR, NOR and XOR, andretrieving data. Each computing engine 203 may then use itscorresponding memory cache 205 to quickly store and retrieve data and/orinstructions for execution.

Each processor core 201 is connected to an interconnect 207. Theparticular construction of the interconnect 207 may vary depending uponthe architecture of the processor unit 111. With some processor cores201, such as the Cell microprocessor created by Sony Corporation,Toshiba Corporation and IBM Corporation, the interconnect 207 may beimplemented as an interconnect bus. With other processor units 111,however, such as the Opteron™ and Athlon™ dual-core processors availablefrom Advanced Micro Devices of Sunnyvale, Calif., the interconnect 207may be implemented as a system request interface device. In any case,the processor cores 201 communicate through the interconnect 207 with aninput/output interface 209 and a memory controller 210. The input/outputinterface 209 provides a communication interface between the processorunit 111 and the bus 115. Similarly, the memory controller 210 controlsthe exchange of information between the processor unit 111 and thesystem memory 107. With some implementations of the disclosedtechnology, the processor units 111 may include additional components,such as a high-level cache memory accessible shared by the processorcores 201.

While FIG. 2 shows one illustration of a processor unit 111 that may beemployed by some embodiments of the disclosed technology, it should beappreciated that this illustration is representative only, and is notintended to be limiting. Also, with some implementations, a multi-coreprocessor unit 111 can be used in lieu of multiple, separate processorunits 111. For example, rather than employing six separate processorunits 111, an alternate implementation of the disclosed technology mayemploy a single processor unit 111 having six cores, two multi-coreprocessor units each having three cores, a multi-core processor unit 111with four cores together with two separate single-core processor units111, etc.

Returning now to FIG. 1, the interface device 113 allows the mastercomputer 103 to communicate with the servant computers 117A, 117B, 117C. . . 117 x through a communication interface. The communicationinterface may be any suitable type of interface including, for example,a conventional wired network connection or an optically transmissivewired network connection. The communication interface may also be awireless connection, such as a wireless optical connection, a radiofrequency connection, an infrared connection, or even an acousticconnection. The interface device 113 translates data and control signalsfrom the master computer 103 and each of the servant computers 117 intonetwork messages according to one or more communication protocols, suchas the transmission control protocol (TCP), the user datagram protocol(UDP), and the Internet protocol (IP). These and other conventionalcommunication protocols are well known in the art, and thus will not bediscussed here in more detail.

Each servant computer 117 may include a memory 119, a processor unit121, an interface device 123, and, optionally, one more input/outputdevices 125 connected together by a system bus 127. As with the mastercomputer 103, the optional input/output devices 125 for the servantcomputers 117 may include any conventional input or output devices, suchas keyboards, pointing devices, microphones, display monitors, speakers,and printers. Similarly, the processor units 121 may be any type ofconventional or custom-manufactured programmable processor device. Forexample, one or more of the processor units 121 may be commerciallygeneric programmable microprocessors, such as Intel® Pentium® or Xeon™microprocessors, Advanced Micro Devices Athlon™ microprocessors orMotorola 68K/Coldfire® microprocessors. Alternately, one or more of theprocessor units 121 may be custom-manufactured processors, such asmicroprocessors designed to optimally perform specific types ofmathematical operations. Still further, one or more of the processorunits 121 may have more than one core, as described with reference toFIG. 2 above. For example, with some implementations of the disclosedtechnology, one or more of the processor units 121 may be a Cellprocessor. The memory 119 then may be implemented using any combinationof the computer readable media discussed above. Like the interfacedevice 113, the interface devices 123 allow the servant computers 117 tocommunicate with the master computer 103 over the communicationinterface.

In the illustrated example, the master computer 103 is a multi-processorunit computer with multiple processor units 111, while each servantcomputer 117 has a single processor unit 121. It should be noted,however, that alternate implementations of the disclosed technology mayemploy a master computer having single processor unit 111. Further, oneor more of the servant computers 117 may have multiple processor units121, depending upon their intended use, as previously discussed. Also,while only a single interface device 113 or 123 is illustrated for boththe master computer 103 and the servant computers, it should be notedthat, with alternate embodiments of the disclosed technology, either thecomputer 103, one or more of the servant computers 117, or somecombination of both may use two or more different interface devices 113or 123 for communicating over multiple communication interfaces.

With various examples of the disclosed technology, the master computer103 may be connected to one or more external data storage devices. Theseexternal data storage devices may be implemented using any combinationof computer readable media that can be accessed by the master computer103. The computer readable media may include, for example, microcircuitmemory devices such as read-write memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),electronically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) orflash memory microcircuit devices, CD-ROM disks, digital video disks(DVD), or other optical storage devices. The computer readable media mayalso include magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disks or othermagnetic storage devices, punched media, holographic storage devices, orany other medium that can be used to store desired information.According to some implementations of the disclosed technology, one ormore of the servant computers 117 may alternately or additionally beconnected to one or more external data storage devices. Typically, theseexternal data storage devices will include data storage devices thatalso are connected to the master computer 103, but they also may bedifferent from any data storage devices accessible by the mastercomputer 103.

It also should be appreciated that the description of the computernetwork illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is provided as an example only,and it not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of alternate embodiments of the disclosed technology.

Transformation Variants

As noted previously, transformations of a layout pattern usually willnot affect whether the layout pattern is difficult to fabricate orwhether the layout pattern is prone to be defective after fabrication.The results of transformations are referred to as transformationvariants. These transformation variants may be treated as the samepattern in physical verification and diagnosis/yield analysis. Commontransformation variants comprise translation (shift) variants, rotationvariants, and mirror reflection variants. Some transformation variantsmay be derived through a combination of various basic transformations.In some situations, transformation variants also comprise scalingvariants.

Layout designs usually comprise Manhattan patterns: edges of polygonsare parallel to either the X axis or the Y axis. In a Manhattan-stylelayout design, a layout pattern has 8 mirror/rotation variants(including the original), as illustrated in FIGS. 3a-h . Specifically,FIG. 3a illustrates a layout pattern 300; FIG. 3b illustrates a rotationvariant obtained by rotating the layout pattern 300 90 degreeclock-wise, FIG. 3c illustrates a rotation variant obtained by rotatingthe layout pattern 300 180 degree clock-wise, FIG. 3 d illustrates arotation variant obtained by rotating the layout pattern 300 270 degreeclock-wise, FIG. 3e illustrates a mirror variant obtained by mirrortransformation of the layout pattern 300, FIG. 3f illustrates amirror-rotation variant obtained by a combination of mirrortransformation and 90-degree-clockwise rotation, FIG. 3g illustrates amirror-rotation variant obtained by a combination of mirrortransformation and 180-degree-clockwise rotation, and FIG. 3hillustrates a mirror-rotation variant obtained by a combination ofmirror transformation and 270-degree-clockwise rotation.

Geometric elements in a layout design may be described by X and Ycoordinates.

Without loss of generality, assume that the origin of the coordinatesystem is at the center of the pattern and its variants. The90-degree-clockwise rotation variant in FIG. 3b may be obtained bychanging coordinates of the original pattern in FIG. 3a as follows: (x,y)→(y, −x). Similarly, (x, y)→(−x, −y) will get FIG. 3c ; (x, y)→(−y, x)will get FIG. 3d , (x, y)→(x, −y) will get FIG. 3e ; (x, y)→(−y, −x)will get FIG. 3f ; (x, y)→(−x, y) will get FIG. 3g ; and (x, y)→(y, x)will get FIG. 3 h.

FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrates two translation (shifts) variants of thelayout pattern 300. These translation variants have the same number(eight) of X clipped coordinates as the original pattern and all ofnon-clipped coordinates of vertices (twelve in total) are the same aftera translation operation. In this disclosure, a clipped coordinate isdefined as a coordinate for a boundary line of the window: an Xcoordinate for a vertical boundary line or a Y coordinate for ahorizontal boundary line. In FIGS. 4a and 4b , the X coordinates forvertices 410-480 are clipped coordinates.

Canonical Form Determination Tools and Methods

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a canonical form tool according tovarious embodiments of the disclosed technology. As seen in the figure,the canonical form tool 500 comprises two units: a transformation unit520 and a canonical form determination unit 540. Some implementations ofthe canonical form tool 500 may cooperate with (or incorporate) one ormore of an input database 515, an output database 595, and a patternmatching unit 560.

As will be discussed in more detail below, the transformation unit 520transforms coordinates of vertices of geometric elements in a window ofa layout design into new coordinates of the vertices. The transformationcomprises performing a translation on the coordinates of vertices basedon differences between maximum and minimum X coordinate values of thevertices and between maximum and minimum Y coordinate values of thevertices. Based on a sum of X coordinate values of and a sum of Ycoordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices, the canonicalform coordinates determination unit 540 determines canonical formcoordinates of the vertices for a plurality of windows. Based on thecanonical form coordinates for a plurality of the windows, the patternmatching unit 560 performs pattern matching.

As previously noted, various examples of the disclosed technology may beimplemented by a multiprocessor computing system, such as the computingsystem illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Accordingly, one or more of thetransformation unit 520, the canonical form coordinates determinationunit 540, and the pattern matching unit 560 may be implemented byexecuting programming instructions on one or more processors in acomputing system such as the computing system illustrated in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2. Correspondingly, some other embodiments of the disclosedtechnology may be implemented by software instructions, stored on anon-transitory computer-readable medium, for instructing one or moreprogrammable computers/computer systems to perform the functions of oneor more of the transformation unit 520, the canonical form coordinatesdetermination unit 540, and the pattern matching unit 560. As usedherein, the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” refers tocomputer-readable medium that are capable of storing data for futureretrieval, and not propagating electro-magnetic waves. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, a magneticstorage device, an optical storage device, a “punched” surface typedevice, or a solid state storage device.

It also should be appreciated that, while the transformation unit 520,the canonical form coordinates determination unit 540, and the patternmatching unit 560 are shown as separate units in FIG. 5, a singleservant computer (or a single processor within a master computer) may beused to implement two or more of these units at different times, orcomponents of two or more of these units at different times.

With various examples of the disclosed technology, the input database515 and the output database 595 may be implemented using any suitablecomputer readable storage device. That is, either of the input database515 and the output database 595 may be implemented using any combinationof computer readable storage devices including, for example,microcircuit memory devices such as read-write memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), electronically erasable and programmable read-only memory(EEPROM) or flash memory microcircuit devices, CD-ROM disks, digitalvideo disks (DVD), or other optical storage devices. The computerreadable storage devices may also include magnetic cassettes, magnetictapes, magnetic disks or other magnetic storage devices, punched media,holographic storage devices, or any other non-transitory storage mediumthat can be used to store desired information. While the input database515 and the output database 595 are shown as separate units in FIG. 5, asingle data storage medium may be used to implement some or all of thesedatabases.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart showing a process for determiningcanonical forms of layout patterns that may be implemented according tovarious examples of the disclosed technology. For ease of understanding,methods for determining canonical forms of layout patterns that may beemployed according to various embodiments of the disclosed technologywill be described with reference to the canonical form tool 500illustrated in FIG. 5 and the flow chart 600 in FIG. 6. It should beappreciated, however, that alternate implementations of a canonical formtool may be used to perform the method for determining canonical formsof layout patterns shown in the flow chart 600 according to variousembodiments of the disclosed technology. In addition, it should beappreciated that implementations of the canonical form tool 500 may beemployed to implement methods for determining canonical forms of layoutpatterns according to different embodiments of the disclosed technologyother than the one illustrated by the flow chart 600 in FIG. 6.

Initially, in operation 620 of the flow chart 600, the transformationunit 520 transforms coordinates of vertices of geometric elements in awindow of a layout design into new coordinates of the vertices. Thewindow, sometimes also referred to as a snippet, often has a squareshape as shown in FIGS. 3-4. The transformation comprises performing atranslation on the coordinates of vertices based on differences betweenmaximum and minimum X coordinate values of the vertices and betweenmaximum and minimum Y coordinate values of the vertices. The clippedcoordinates are not transformed or considered when maximum and minimumX/Y coordinate values of the vertices are determined.

The translation operation may comprise determining an origin (shiftcenter) of a new coordinate system based on differences between maximumand minimum X coordinate values (maxX and minX) of the vertices andbetween maximum and minimum Y coordinate values (maxY and minY) of thevertices. The X and Y coordinate values of the origin in the originalcoordinate system (shiftX, shifty) may be calculated as:shiftX=(maxX+minX)/2 and shiftY=(maxY+minY)/2. If there are nonon-clipped X coordinates, maxX and minX are set to be zero. The samerule applies to Y coordinates. To translate coordinates of the vertices,shiftX and shiftY are subtracted from non-clipped X coordinate valuesand non-clipped Y coordinate values.

In addition to the translation operation, the transformation may alsocomprise a scaling operation: the translated coordinates are scaled downby a factor if the factor is greater than 1, wherein the factor is agreatest common factor of the translated coordinates of the vertices.

Next, in operation 640, the canonical form coordinates determinationunit 540 determines canonical form coordinates of the vertices for aplurality of windows based on a sum of X coordinate values of the newcoordinates of the vertices and a sum of Y coordinate values of the newcoordinates of the vertices. The plurality of windows comprise thewindow discussed in the operation 620. Other windows in the plurality ofwindows are centered in the same location as the window and havedifferent sizes.

FIGS. 8a and 8b illustrate layout patterns 600 and 602, respectively.Both of the layout patterns 600 and 602 have a horizontal metal line 610at the center. An open defect may occur on a line due to the presence ofneighboring features. For both of the layout patterns 600 and 602, theopen defect may be caused by two line ends 620 and 630. Thus, the twopatterns 600 and 602 contain the same defect-causing sub-pattern asshown in FIG. 8e despite their different appearance. To identify such aparticular sub-pattern, the size of window may be decreased. FIGS. 8cand 8d illustrate patterns 604 and 606 obtained from the layout patterns600 and 602 by shrinking the size of window, respectively. At thisstage, the patterns 604 and 606 are more similar than the original ones.Further reduction of the window size will lead to the same pattern 608shown in FIG. 8e . It is thus beneficial to obtain canonical formcoordinates for a serial of windows.

To obtain canonical form coordinate, the orientation of the canonicalform may be identified first. As discussed previously, in aManhattan-style layout design, a layout pattern has 8 mirror/rotationvariants (including the original), as illustrated in FIGS. 3a-h . AssumeSumX₀ and SumY₀ are value of the sum of X coordinate values and value ofthe sum of Y coordinate values for the original pattern. The sums of X/Ycoordinates for the other seven mirror/rotation variants can be derivedfrom SumX₀ and SumY₀:

-   -   clockwise-90-degree: t=1; SumX_(t)=SumY₀; SumY_(t)=−SumX₀    -   clockwise-180-degree: t=2; SumX_(t)=−SumX₀; SumY_(t)=−SumY₀    -   clockwise-270-degree: t=3; SumX_(t)=−SumY₀; SumY_(t)=SumX₀    -   mirror-Y: t=4; SumX_(t)=−SumX₀; SumY_(t)=SumY₀    -   mirror-Y, mirror-Y-clockwise-90-degree: t=5; SumX_(t)=SumY₀;        SumY_(t)=SumX₀    -   mirror-Y-clockwise-180-degree: t=6; SumX_(t)=SumX₀;        SumY_(t)=−SumY₀    -   mirror-Y-clockwise-270-degree: t=7; SumX_(t)=−SumY₀;        SumY_(t)=−SumX₀

Among these eight forms, anyone can be designated as the canonical form.For example, the canonical form may be defined as a variant thatsatisfies the rule: SumX_(t)≧0, SumY_(t)≧0 and SumX_(t)≧SumY_(t). Bynature of the geometry orientation, there exists at least one of theeight variants that satisfies this rule. If SumY is 0, there are 2variations can satisfy the rule. If both SumX and SumY are 0, all 8variations can satisfy the rule. By estimate, more than 90% patternshave only one variation satisfies the rule. When more than one variantsatisfy the rule, sometimes an additional rule may be needed to identifythe canonical form as discussed below.

FIG. 7a illustrates a pattern and the shift center, and FIG. 7billustrates coordinates of the vertices and SumX and SumY. In FIG. 7a ,Y coordinates for eight vertices are clipped vertices and thus are notconsidered for the determination of the shift center and SumX and SumY.As shown in FIG. 7b , SumX and SumY are both negative and(−SumX)>(−SumY). According to the rule in the above example, thispattern is not the canonical form. The Canonical form is a variant thatchanges signs of both SumX and SumY—the clockwise-180-degree variant.FIG. 7c illustrates the canonical form of the pattern in FIG. 7a and theshift center, and FIG. 7d illustrates coordinates of the vertices of thecanonical form and SumX and SumY.

After the orientation relationship between the canonical form and anoriginal form of the geometrical elements are identified, canonical formcoordinates of the vertices may be determined. In the example shown inFIG. 7a , the relationship between the canonical form and the originalform is a rotation of clockwise-180-degree. Accordingly, canonical formcoordinates can be obtained by changing signs of the new coordinatevalues.

Canonical form coordinates may be obtained first for the original sizeof the window. Canonical form coordinates for smaller sizes of windowscan then be obtained by determining whether non-clipped vertices areeither excluded from the window or become clipped vertices. Clippedvertices will remain to have value B or −B even the boundary is changed.

With some embodiments of the disclosed technology, the canonical formcoordinates may be sorted according to a predetermined rule for futureapplications such as pattern matching. One example of the predeterminedrule for sorting is: the vertex with largest X, and then largest Y isselected as the starting point of each polygon; then polygons within thepattern are sorted based on their starting vertices; and coordinates areconverted into one array of integers. The number of polygons and thenumber of vertices of each polygon may be appended to the array. Whentwo variants both satisfy the canonical rule, the above obtained arraymay be used to identify the final canonical form.

In operation 660, the pattern matching unit 560 performs patternmatching. Canonical form coordinates for the same size of window arecompared. Two patterns may share the same sub-pattern if canonical formcoordinates for at least one size of window match. Canonical formcoordinates for smaller sizes of windows, if exist, should also match.

CONCLUSION

While the disclosed technology has been described with respect tospecific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying outthe disclosed technology, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthere are numerous variations and permutations of the above describedsystems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of thedisclosed technology as set forth in the appended claims. For example,while specific terminology has been employed above to refer toelectronic design automation processes, it should be appreciated thatvarious examples of the disclosed technology may be implemented usingany desired combination of electronic design automation processes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, executed by at least one processor of acomputer, comprising: transforming coordinates of vertices of geometricelements in a window of a layout design into new coordinates of thevertices, wherein the coordinates of vertices do not comprise clippedcoordinates and the transforming comprises: performing a translation onthe coordinates of vertices based on differences between maximum andminimum X coordinate values of the vertices and between maximum andminimum Y coordinate values of the vertices, wherein the clippedcoordinate values are not considered; and determining canonical formcoordinates of the vertices for a plurality of windows based on a sum ofX coordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices and a sum ofY coordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices, theplurality of windows comprising the window, being centered in the samelocation as the window, and having different sizes.
 2. The methodrecited in claim 1, wherein the performing comprises: determining anorigin of a new coordinate system based on differences between maximumand minimum X coordinate values of the vertices and between maximum andminimum Y coordinate values of the vertices.
 3. The method recited inclaim 1, further comprising: performing pattern matching based on thecanonical form coordinates for a plurality of the windows.
 4. The methodrecited in claim 1, wherein the determining comprises: performing anoperation on the new coordinates of the vertices, the operation beingidentity, 90-degree-rotation, 180-degree-rotation, 270-degree-rotation,mirror-reflection, 90-degree-rotation mirror-reflection,180-degree-rotation mirror-reflection, or 270-degree-rotationmirror-reflection.
 5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein thedetermining comprises: sorting the canonical form coordinates accordingto a predetermined rule.
 6. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia storing computer-executable instructions for causing one or moreprocessors to perform a method, the method comprising: transformingcoordinates of vertices of geometric elements in a window of a layoutdesign into new coordinates of the vertices, wherein the coordinates ofvertices do not comprise clipped coordinates and the transformingcomprises: performing a translation on the coordinates of vertices basedon differences between maximum and minimum X coordinate values of thevertices and between maximum and minimum Y coordinate values of thevertices, wherein the clipped coordinate values are not considered; anddetermining canonical form coordinates of the vertices for a pluralityof windows based on a sum of X coordinate values of the new coordinatesof the vertices and a sum of Y coordinate values of the new coordinatesof the vertices, the plurality of windows comprising the window, beingcentered in the same location as the window, and having different sizes.7. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media recited inclaim 6, wherein the performing comprises: determining an origin of anew coordinate system based on differences between maximum and minimum Xcoordinate values of the vertices and between maximum and minimum Ycoordinate values of the vertices.
 8. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media recited in claim 6, wherein the method furthercomprises: performing pattern matching based on the canonical formcoordinates for a plurality of the windows.
 9. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 6, wherein thedetermining comprises: performing an operation on the new coordinates ofthe vertices, the operation being identity, 90-degree-rotation,180-degree-rotation, 270-degree-rotation, mirror-reflection,90-degree-rotation mirror-reflection, 180-degree-rotationmirror-reflection, or 270-degree-rotation mirror-reflection.
 10. The oneor more non-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 6,wherein the determining comprises: sorting the canonical formcoordinates according to a predetermined rule.
 11. A system, comprising:a transformation unit configured to transform coordinates of vertices ofgeometric elements in a window of a layout design into new coordinatesof the vertices, wherein the coordinates of vertices do not compriseclipped coordinates and the transforming comprises: performing atranslation on the coordinates of vertices based on differences betweenmaximum and minimum X coordinate values of the vertices and betweenmaximum and minimum Y coordinate values of the vertices, wherein theclipped coordinate values are not considered; and a canonical formcoordinate determination unit configured to determine canonical formcoordinates of the vertices for a plurality of windows based on a sum ofX coordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices and a sum ofY coordinate values of the new coordinates of the vertices, theplurality of windows comprising the window, being centered in the samelocation as the window, and having different sizes.
 12. The systemrecited in claim 11, further comprising: a pattern matching unitconfigured to perform pattern matching based on the canonical formcoordinates for a plurality of the windows.
 13. The system recited inclaim 11, wherein the performing comprises: determining an origin of anew coordinate system based on differences between maximum and minimum Xcoordinate values of the vertices and between maximum and minimum Ycoordinate values of the vertices.
 14. The system recited in claim 11,wherein the determining executed by the canonical form coordinatedetermination unit comprises: performing an operation on the newcoordinates of the vertices, the operation being identity,90-degree-rotation, 180-degree-rotation, 270-degree-rotation,mirror-reflection, 90-degree-rotation mirror-reflection,180-degree-rotation mirror-reflection, or 270-degree-rotationmirror-reflection.
 15. The system recited in claim 11, wherein thedetermining executed by the canonical form coordinate determination unitcomprises: sorting the canonical form coordinates according to apredetermined rule.